Islanders losing continues in Vancouver

In Vancouver, Thatcher Demko made 45 saves as the Canucks extended the New York Islanders woes in a 5-4 win after penalties on Tuesday night.

“Down the stretch, we are going to have to be really sharp as a group and individually,” Demko said.

Brock Nelson struck for two goals for the Isles.

“We did a pretty good job a couple times battling back,” Nelson said. “We need that right now, especially the way things are going for us, so it seems like we’re close. But [we’ve] just got to find that puck or that play to kind of get us over the hump right now and turn it around.”

Jordan Eberle and Andrew Ladd added single markers for the Isles.

“It’s fun to be back in that room, playing with those guys and contributing, so hopefully we can get her going in the right direction here and string a few wins together,” Ladd said.

Adam Gaudette, Tyler Toffoli and Zack MacEwen scored to give the Canucks a 3-2 lad.

“It’s nice to score, but getting a win at this time of year is what we’ve been looking for as a team,” Toffoli said. “I know that sounds cliché. It was a lot of fun. Winning is fun. Winning is contagious, and we have to do more of it.”

Bo Horvat scored in the second period to even the game at 4-4.

“Obviously, you’d like two [points], but to fight back and get that point, it could be the point that gets us in,” Ladd said. “At this time of year, you can’t dwell on the what ifs. We’ve got to move on.”

J.T. Miller had the only goal in the skills competition.

“It was two desperate teams that needed a win pretty badly,”  Miller said. “I thought the last eight minutes or so we had another level in our game. We hit a few posts. It was a super fun game. Those are the games you want to be in.”

[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Canucks highlights]

Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves in the loss.

“You want to be a guy that can be relied on to get it done so it was nice to get a couple,” Nelson said. “We did a lot of good things today and we’re close to getting that one that’s going to get us out, and then hopefully we can roll with it.”